Ivy Lodge Assisted Living

My husband's Alzheimers made it impossible for me to keep him at home. We moved him to Ivy Lodge, an Assisted Living Home, in the nearby town of Saugerties, which was set up like a spacious, comfortable home. I had visited it the month before and been delighted by the kindness and caring in the way the Director, Greg Howard, interacted with the staff and residents, and the way the staff treated the residents so warmly. My husband stayed there 15 months, most of the time upstairs in the secure section. I visited about 3 times a week. There were smooth times and challenging ones. I got to know to know different staff members and often chatted with other residents. I enjoyed the activities Donita and others set up for them. Sometimes I stayed for a meal. (I thought the food was varied and tasty. ) From beginning to the end of our time, I was so grateful for all that the staff did and thanked my good fortune to have found such a nice place so close by, to care for my husband. Betty Schoen-René September 26, 2024

What initially appealed to me about the Ivy Lodge was its size - small (30-35? units). I soon found out that all the staff were caring, even loving, in their manner of looking after those in their charge. Most residents all knew each other, helped each other when needed, and had many opportunities to engage with one another. All these touches I believe helped to make the overall experience a little less painful during the sad and difficult journey that each resident was on. I highly recommend the Ivy Lodge for anyone in need such care.

I toured Ivy Lodge. I like the three levels of care, and I like the location. The staff was helpful and friendly. I did not see the rooms because they had a couple of cases of Covid at the time.

Based on our families experience with Ivy Lodge we think they could improve on having more opportunities for outings, care management, Social Work Care manager, increase quality of care, improve communication, provide more personalized service/care

My mother has moved into Ivy Lodge. I like it more and more. It's a small place. I think there are only 35 people there. Some of them need memory care, and some of them are assisted living and they're kind of mixed. My mother has fairly extreme Alzheimer's, but she's receiving such loving care. The staff are all trained and are working with elderly people with dementia. They have to go through training. Everybody, including the kitchen staff and the director, is wonderful, and the activities director is wonderful. They're very loving, they have a good sense of humor, and they're respectful and patient to these elderly people. It's a pretty amazing place. There's an exercise class every day. It's all in chairs or wheelchairs, but it's wonderful. They play games. They have arts and crafts. There's some music therapy. The activities director is very inventive. She gets people together. For example, for happy hour, there's no alcohol, but she'll always have something like hot chocolate and some special cookies. Everybody just sits around, talks, and laughs and then they watch movies together sometimes, so lots is going on. Some of the rooms are like little apartments. Two rooms share an entry room and a bathroom, and that's worked out well for my mother. Her neighbor is lovely. They're both 95. With regards to location, it's within walking distance of the heart of the Saugerties village, which is lovely. There are restaurants, a wonderful bookstore, and all kinds of interesting little stores, but it's down in the quiet part of Main Street. Ivy Lodge is very cozy and inviting. It's in a big old house that has a fairly large wing built onto it where most of the rooms are. There's a living room and a parlor. There are three floors. The dining room and the laundry are on the bottom floor. Then there's the first floor with the main entrance and a lot of rooms. On the second floor, there's a closed unit for people with memory care who have real issues with wandering. My mother is on the first floor because she's very quiet and easy. All the residents are treated like family. They're treated as if this is their home. My mom likes to wander around with her walker, and I just found out yesterday that sometimes she goes and sits on the chair beside the director in his office, and sometimes she sits in the same room where the activities director has her desk. She's welcome everywhere. There's a lot of family involvement for a good number of people from the local area. The food is quite good. It's freshly made. I've sat with my mom through several meals. She gets her food ground up now because at a certain point, trouble swallowing can start happening. Even then, she's eating well, so the mush seems to taste good. There are only 15 people dining there at any one time. The dining area is right beside the kitchen, and it's got comfortable padded armchairs and good-sized tables. So if they're looking for something that is very, very homey, personable, and small, this would be it. It's a little shabby. They have all kinds of projects lined up. The front steps need a little painting, but the porch in the front that wraps around the building is very generous and deep and has tables and chairs on it. There's somebody who is full-time working on anything that needs to be fixed. It's a big old house. The house area is not shabby. It's very nice. It's got a lot of character, it's picturesque and it's welcoming.